The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of coneflower that may be grown for use as an ornamental plant in containers and in the garden or landscape. The new cultivar is known botanically as Echinacea purpurea times paradoxa and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘Paranoia’.
‘Paranoia’ arose and was selected in 1999 as a single plant grown from approximately 100 seeds which the Inventors had obtained in the fall of 1997 from the deliberate pollination carried out in Dahlonega, Ga. in the summer of 1997 of the cultivar of Echinacea purpurea known as ‘White Swan’ (unpatented) by pollen collected from plants of the species Echinacea paradoxa (species, unpatented).
Echinacea purpurea is widely grown in commerce and known as the purple coneflower. Most cultivars of Echinacea are selections of Echinacea purpurea which exhibit pink to purple flowers; Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ exhibits white flowers with light copper tones.
Echinacea paradoxa is known and grown only as the species, with plants being raised from seed saved from plantings of the species. No cultivars of Echinacea paradoxa are known to the Inventors. Echinacea paradoxa is uniquely yellow flowered and occurs naturally in the prairies of Missouri and Arkansas and in the Ozark mountains. Echinacea paradoxa is, however, poorly suited to commerce, being tall (up to 3 feet) and lax in habit.
The approximately 100 seeds obtained from the cross described above were sown by the Inventors in Raleigh, N.C. in the fall of 1997. Only two seeds were found to germinate and the resulting seedlings were observed for a further two years. In 1999, one of the two plants was selected for its satisfactory vigor and ability to produce attractively branched plant habit. This one plant, which is the subject of the instant application, was isolated for asexual propagation; the other plant was discarded.
Asexual reproduction of the new Echinacea plant ‘Paranoia’ was first conducted by the Inventors in a cultivated area known as Plant Delights Nursery, Raleigh, N.C. The method used was division of the whole plant, including the roots. The plants thus obtained were observed to exhibit identical characteristics to the plant of ‘Paranoia’ originally selected. The claimed variety ‘Paranoia’ has been determined true to type after successive cycles of asexual reproduction, originally by division as above and subsequently by means of tissue culture.